“How cowardly-. We were one body. We were equally dead. Even if our hearts were cold, even if we couldn't feel anything-. Because we were one with the Progenitor, we were no longer lonely-. Leaving us behind, how cowardly.”
A faint harmony accompanies Murie's sobbing, singing voice. The ghost dancer, Murie of the Waning Moon, is a dancer. She hums songs and dances, decorating the desolate principality with art. Murie herself lost her inspiration after becoming a vampire, but the very minor changes Tirkanjaka felt whenever she listened to the music resonated in Murie's chest, making her continue her music.
“Progenitor-. Why did you abandon us. Leaving, sleeping. After turning away, when we finally met again-. You cast us aside like ragged clothes.”
However, now that the shackles are broken, nothing resonates in Murie's chest.
Inspiration, emotion, bewilderment, betrayal. The emotions Tirkanjaka should rightfully feel have disappeared.
To an artist, inspiration is everything. Now that Tirkanjaka, who would listen and evaluate, is gone, Murie's music has no audience. Art that has lost its audience is nothing. Now that the Progenitor has left to find a man, Murie has become nothing.
“I did not cast you aside! Did you not judge on your own and come to me!”
Tirkanjaka answered, but to them whose shackles had disappeared, Tirkanjaka's voice was just noise that couldn't move their hearts. Rahu Khan spoke.
“Patriarch. The shackles are a promise. I protected the body I received from my mother. That's why I became a vampire. But the Patriarch broke the promise.”
“Even if I regained my heart, your immortality hasn't disappeared. No, it has grown stronger. You won't die even by my command! What is the problem?”
In the immature days, the Progenitor's Elders died in droves despite their immortality. This was partly because their forces were weak compared to powerful enemies, but it was also frequent for Tirkanjaka and the Elders to lose control of their power and run amok. Therefore, the Progenitor Tirkanjaka only accepted those who were likely to control the power they gained as Elders.
“…Different. Now, we are, different from Mother.”
The blood-soaked Venerable Bakuta. A predator of the deep swamps whose age and origin are unknown. He became an Elder to erase his hunger, rubbing his starved belly as he sadly chewed on something.
“We were supposed to become the same. We said we wouldn't be lonely. But… what if you change alone.”
“Different? What is different about you, Bakuta! You are still an Elder. You shouldn't feel hunger!”
“…But. Mother. I'm, hungry. Something is lacking. It's not filled.”
Venerable Bakuta looked around with empty eyes. The vampires flinched and stepped back at his gaze, which saw even fellow vampires as prey.
The power to consume another's blood and make it his own is unique to Bakuta. If one is subjected to his gluttony, not even a vampire can regenerate. Gluttony that eats others is innately ostracized. The reason he could stay as a member of the Elders was because he was suppressed by Tirkanjaka's powerful blood manipulation art.
Under the Progenitor's rule, Venerable Bakuta leisurely slaughtered beasts, demonstrating his expertise.
That means, of course, only up until now. Rahu Khan, staring intently at Venerable Bakuta writhing in hunger, spoke as if he realized something.
“Hunger, no. It is desire.”
“…Desire?”
“The Patriarch acted as our substitute. She took our desires. So we were peaceful. But, the desires have returned.”
“Hmm-. It seems so. I want to move. I want to dance. I want to rake my body. I want to drink. I want to be held in someone's arms-. Did the Progenitor too-. Want to be held by a man-?”
“That is a matter for later!”
The Elders freed from their shackles continuously throw questions. Tirkanjaka answers those questions.
No one struck a gavel or declared the opening, but the heaven-defying trial against the Progenitor had already begun.
Ain, Yelling. The vampires who no longer had to follow the Progenitor moved to their respective lords. The Progenitor, who was at the very top and had no one above her, was left entirely alone.
The throne became a courtroom. The Progenitor remained alone without her subjects, subjected to the vampires' interrogation.
I thought I saw signs of it, and it finally happened. Those vampire bastards are truly ruthless. The Progenitor loses her power for just a moment and they immediately start a rebellion. I thought they had no blood or tears, but they have no shame either.
First, we need to escape. If the Elders rise in rebellion and come here, this Castle of the Full Moon will soon become a battlefield.
“Let's get out of the castle first! No matter where we go, we need to have our feet on the ground!”
I tore off the curtains draped over the bed. The bed itself is a historical artifact made in the distant past, and even a piece of the curtain would be a precious treasure, but it's not more valuable than my life. I immediately tied the edges of the curtain to make a handle.
“Father. What are you trying to do?”
“I'm going to use it as a parachute! Hilde, don't try to get on. It's for one person!”
“…'I' don't mind falling like this.”
Right. Hilde is also a Yukjangseong. For a Yukjangseong who has learned breakfall techniques, falling is just an easy vertical movement without even using her own strength.
This is the same for vampires though…. Wait, am I the only one afraid of falling? Then why do I have acrophobia?
“More importantly, you're unusually serious today?”
“I'll start joking after we get out of here. Please fall first. They'll be coming soon.”
“You're certainly strict about public and private matters…. Huh? Why are you grabbing my collar right now…”
Hilde pinned the bed down with her foot and pushed it hard. Grrrk, the giant bed crossed the room and crashed into the opposite wall. Normally, a collision between a wall and a bed would make one imagine a gruesome state of the bed, but the massive bed, fit for an ancient noble, didn't stop even after the impact.
Crash.
The bed smashed through the wall and swam into the open air. Unfortunately, falling things have no wings. The relic that stayed in the Progenitor's bedroom for hundreds of years would soon become debris. Thanks for everything, bed. I did torment you a lot, but it was comfortable thanks to you. I'll mourn for you.
“Go first. 'I' will follow soon.”
“Don't tell me, that's not… Aaaaaaaah!”
Hilde threw me through the broken wall. I flew through the air, ending up in the same state as the bed I had just mourned.
“Aaaaaah! It's not finished yet!”
As I fell, I saw two of Erzebet's Ains kicking the door open and entering, but that didn't matter anymore. I had to worry about my life.
I waited for the speed to pick up a bit. The wind has to blow for it to spread wider. After counting to five in my head, I spread my hands apart forcefully to deploy the curtain parachute. Fortunately, being an antique didn't make it more fragile. The sturdy and tough curtain supported my weight.
The air of the principality is heavy. Combined with the damp sea breeze, the air of the principality, filled with an unknown darkness, clung to my body as if I were submerged in water.
With the dark and hazy sea visible in the distance as a backdrop, I descended to the ground quite fast….
“Wait. This is still a bit fast.”
Even if I used breakfall techniques on all the vital points I knew, the impact seemed like it would be huge, would I be okay? What should I do. As I was worrying, my ears finally caught the sound of the bed breaking down below. The frame was all shattered, leaving only the soft mattress….
Oh.
“I'm sorry. Thanks for everything until the very end.”
Falling onto the bed mattress, I dusted off my clothes and stood up. Thanks to the tear-jerking sacrifice of the bed, which provided the curtain, broke the wall for me, and even laid out the mattress, I was perfectly fine. As I breathed a sigh of relief and raised my head, there stood Hilde in a nurse's uniform with a sullen face.
“Yikes, you startled me. What. I clearly fell first, but when did you arrive?”
Was it not breakfall but the method of falling faster? While I was flustered, Hilde spun her body around and walked ahead.
“Please follow me.”
“Your attitude has been chilly since earlier. What are you so displeased about?”
“The situation is urgent. There's no time for small talk, so let's hurry.”
Hilde guided me, choosing only the gloomy alleys as if the Castle of the Full Moon were her front yard. Her extremely businesslike demeanor showed the appearance of a Yeonggwi.
Her mood is very uncomfortable. Because the situation is going badly… no, that's not it. It's clearly dissatisfaction directed at me.
“Are you perhaps jealous?”
“I'd rather it be jealousy, Father.”
Hilde retorted without even looking at me.
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“The rumor that you've been staying up nights with the Progenitor for days has spread widely. First among the vampires, then even to the humans. Now, in this old castle, the rumor about the Progenitor and her paramour is no secret.”
“That's a bit embarrassing. And proud, too.”
“Proud. Ha.”
Sighing, Hilde spun around and glared at me with sharp eyes.
“'I' did my best. But what did you do, Father? Rolling around in bed with the Progenitor? Leaving your marks on her body?”
“It was an enjoyable time.”
“If you were thinking of building a deeper bond with the Progenitor, you should have taken care of your tasks first.”
Is it because she's still wearing the nurse's uniform? Hilde, speaking stiffly and precisely, looked several times more resolute than usual.
“Knowing full well there are forces raising their flags of rebellion against the Progenitor. You take the Progenitor into a room before resolving that? Enjoying ecstasy in this golden time? Even though you're a beast, Father, I thought you'd at least be able to handle your own crisis. I endured and endured, but when I came in, you were just lying in bed.”
“I guess I was a bit lazy. But I received a request from Tir.”
“If you were going to do pillow talk, you should have told Tirkanjaka first so she could prepare. You are hopeless, Father.”
Being called Father while being looked down upon feels a bit strange. As I only smiled awkwardly, Hilde looked at me as if I were a bug and said.
“The sleeping Elders have awakened. We don't know if they'll be hostile or friendly to the Progenitor. Because this is the first time the Progenitor's dominance has weakened. No one can predict what kind of erratic actions a vampire who has lost their dominance will take right now. Not even the Saintess.”
“How am I supposed to know what even the Saintess doesn't…”
“Even so, you should have been careful when you were immediately attacked by an Ain.”
Her pupils are sharp enough to cut me. Hilde, although she's currently following me as her Father, is actually a Yeonggwi who served as the Minister of Public Safety in the military state for a long time. Seeing a glimpse of that side of her, I got scared and quickly tried to appease her.
“B-but there are many Elders who are friendly to Tir, right? Historically, most of the Elders have been indebted to Tir. Above all, the Blood Vestal, Lady Kabila, is devoted to the Progenitor, isn't she?”
“…Do you know the information 'I' have found out?”
I knew because I read her mind, but I asked out of courtesy.
“What is it?”
“Just like the Elders, the Ains are equal to each other. Being a little more outstanding doesn't mean someone can rule over another Ain. To gather and move the Ains, an Elder is needed. Even if it's not their own Elder.”
“Does that mean there's an Elder who gathered the Ains of Ruskinia?”
“And as a result of 'my' investigation. That Elder is….”
***
At the point where the Progenitor's authority was crashing in real-time. Kabila clapped her hands in displeasure. At that moment, a massive presence smashed through the wall and appeared.
Several vampires quickly retreated and attempted to defend against the attack with the power of blood. However, the massive presence lightly ignored the vampires' attacks and widened the hole with its pincers.
“'I'll show you, so just watch,' she said, but you're ungrateful for the grace of being killed! How dare you mock the sister who shared her blood with you?”
Bone of Haehyung. More precisely, the exoskeleton of Haehyung, which died after being attacked while molting. When Haehyung's corpse washed up on the shore once, Kabila took it in and made it into a puppet. Because it was the corpse of a sea creature, she had difficulty making it into a puppet, but Kabila succeeded after painstaking effort.
The pincers of the sea crawfish rake through the hall. Its hard carapace deflects all ordinary attacks and sweeps in all directions. In the courtroom that instantly became a mess, Kabila, wrapped in blood silk, approached Tirkanjaka.
“Sister. Look. At those insolent bastards. Trash who think that true blood is all their own power just because they got their hearts back. We can't stay like this. If we stay like this, they will target not only your position, Sister, but also your blood and life.”
Kabila's figure, single-handedly turning the tide of the battle and approaching, looked like the Progenitor's savior, and Kabila herself was deeply intoxicated by that role. Right now, Kabila fulfilled her blossoming desire more satisfactorily than anyone else.
“It can't be helped, Sister.”
And unlike the other Elders, Kabila's human and trivial desire….
“I will stop Sister's heart for a moment. So that you can become my sister again.”
It is completed by killing the Progenitor. Kabila offered a proposal to the Progenitor with a radiant smile, like a petal just before withering.